University of B.C. President Stephen Toope made $531,088 in the 2011/12 fiscal year. The growth in the number of B.C. public servants earning $100,000 or more is slowing.

Photograph by: wayne leidenfrost Wayne Leidenfrost
, PNG

The number of B.C. public servants earning $100,000 or more continues to grow, but at a slower pace than in previous years, according to The Vancouver Sun’s exclusive database of public-sector salaries.

The fifth and latest version of the database is now available at vancouversun.com/pay.

Of the roughly 70,000 people in this year’s database, more than 19,000 earned $100,000 or more, a 7.7-per-cent increase in six-figure salaries over the previous year.

That’s a bigger increase than last year, when six-figure salaries only jumped by 4.7 per cent, but is still significantly lower than the two years before that, both of which saw year-over-year increases in six-figure salaries of more than 20 per cent each.

The slowing growth in those making $100,000 or more is not surprising given the “net zero” negotiating mandate imposed by the B.C. government in the last few years, in which any wage increases for employees had to be paid for with cost savings elsewhere.

On Thursday, the Ontario government released its own “sunshine list” of public-sector employees earning more than $100,000. It showed 88,412 people earning six-figure salaries, compared to around 19,000 in B.C. The numbers are hard to compare because Ontario’s population is almost three times larger than B.C.’s. And Ontario’s list includes some types of agencies, like charities that receive significant government funds, that are not included in The Sun’s database.

Because some B.C. agencies in the database this year were not included last year, The Sun has limited its comparison of six-figure salaries to agencies that were in the database both years.

While the overall increase in six-figure salaries was relatively modest this year, some agencies saw significant jumps in those earning $100,000 or more.

One of the most notable increases occurred at the Provincial Health Services Authority, which runs B.C. Children’s Hospital, the BC Cancer Agency and several other provincial health agencies.

The health authority went from having 654 employees earning six figures in 2010-11 to 983 in 2011-12, a 50-per-cent increase.

PHSA spokeswoman Lesley Pritchard wrote in an email that the main reason for the increase is that the authority took over responsibility for a variety of health services last year.

The most notable was the B.C. Ambulance Service, whose 4,000 employees used to be part of the Ministry of Health.

Pritchard said of the 329 employees who joined the six-figure ranks at PHSA last year, 270 were employees already making that amount at places like B.C. Ambulance and who only joined the PHSA last year.

The remaining 59 were existing PHSA employees who received salary increases, wrote Pritchard.

If only those 59 pre-existing PHSA employees are counted, the authority’s year-over-year increase in six-figure salaries is nine per cent, not 50 per cent.

The biggest percentage increase in six-figure salaries occurred at the City of Abbotsford, which went from having 55 employees earning $100,000 or more in 2010 to 89 in 2011, a 62-per-cent jump.

In an email, city spokeswoman Katherine Jeffcoatt said the increase was due to a large number of employees in 2010 with salaries in the high-90s who moved into six-figure territory in 2011 due to overtime and cost-of-living increases.

North Island College, which had the second-highest increase at 60 per cent, pointed to a quirk of the calendar: It had 27 paydays in the 2011-12 fiscal year compared to the usual 26, which bumped several employees above the $100,000 line.

In some cases, the increase in six-figure salaries isn’t as dramatic as it might first appear.

For example, the municipality of Bowen Island saw an increase in six-figure salaries of 50 per cent, but that’s because the number of employees earning more than $100,000 there went from two to three.

Similarly, Northwest Community College’s 50-per-cent increase was due to a jump from six employees earning $100,000 or more to nine.

Other agencies with large year-over-year increases in six-figure salaries attributed the increases to promotions, severance or small wage increases bumping employees above the $100,000 line.

Saanich Police said its 43-per-cent increase was due to its officers receiving lump sum retroactive pay after a new collective agreement was signed.

On the flip side, the biggest decrease in six-figure salaries this year occurred at Vancouver Community College, which went from having 18 people earning $100,000 or more in 2010-11 to 12 in 2011-12, a drop of a third.

VCC spokeswoman Kate Chandler said the drop was due to a restructuring at the college that resulted in some people taking on dual roles.

Chandler said the number of six-figure salaries will likely return to its 2010-11 level in the coming year.

In 2008, The Sun launched B.C.’s first searchable online database of public-sector salaries.

The database, which includes public servants who earn more than $75,000, has been enormously popular, registering more than 10 million page views.

The new database includes pay for more than 70,000 public servants working at 109 public-sector agencies including Crown corporations, health authorities, municipalities and universities.

The remuneration information obtained by The Sun includes the total amount paid to each employee, including base salary but also any overtime, vacation payouts or severance received.

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